


Unspoken

by rakamAya



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, M/M, Season 8 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-19 19:54:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17008155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rakamAya/pseuds/rakamAya
Summary: Keith goes off by himself at Shiro's wedding to another man. Shiro comes to speak to him. Neither of them will acknowledge why but they both know.





	Unspoken

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to soothe my s8 angst by believing that these two dorks haven't quite failed at getting together yet. They're just super shitty at talking about their feelings.

“Hey” Shiro’s voice is nearby, louder than the murmur of wedding guests who are milling near the tables and the dancefloor. It’s a lot like the kind of wedding Keith wanted... _The kind of wedding I want, present tense_...he reminds himself stubbornly. A bright gathering in the rusty Arizona desert with some string lights and folding chairs and tables, nothing too fancy. Just because the only man he’s ever loved is married now doesn’t mean love is totally off the table forever. This attempted pep-talk rings a little hollow as he turns to watch the man approach. Shiro’s silver hair and white suit are gilded with the light of the desert sunset. He’s so beautiful it takes Keith’s breath away for a moment. But then it makes his heart twist.

“Hey Shiro.” he feels like he should offer a smile but he doesn’t feel like trying. He has enough of a reputation as a stoic that maybe that won’t seem weird. Shiro reaches out to lay his warm hand on Keith’s shoulder, such a practiced and familiar gesture that Keith lets himself enjoy it for a moment before he turns his body back towards the open desert, shifting his shoulder just a little bit. Shiro takes the hint and lets his hand fall as he does the same. And in that moment, Keith knows that Shiro might have known how Keith felt all this time.

Shiro had been a bit distant in the wake of the invasion of Earth, but Keith chalked it up to the stress of becoming Captain of the Atlas, running a war effort, all the million demands that everyone was making of him every day. He seemed confident though, so Keith had let it lie, not worried about Shiro’s health or well-being. Besides, Shiro hated when people did that. But after they returned home, after they lost Allura, Keith felt him pull away even more.

Their equilibrium had always been fragile. He told Shiro he loved him in the chaos of war and death, amidst the pain of the fight. He was never sure if Shiro remembered what he said or recognized what Keith really meant. Keith knew there would never be a right time to bring it up again. Any time would be as bad as the next. But he had been paralyzed by the idea that Shiro could reject him and he would have ruined the easy trust they had.

He can't forget what it felt like when they first met. Back then, his feeling for Shiro was at least partly a stupid crush. He knew it could never come to anything and got used to dismissing it. Shiro was in a committed relationship with someone he loved. Shiro was an officer, a grown man, and Keith was a cadet who many still saw as a child with a discipline problem. Shiro was the Garrison’s golden boy and Keith was just...Keith, an orphan from the desert, there at the Garrison but by the grace of Shiro's charity. Keith hadn’t dared to hope that he and Shiro could ever be together like that. Besides, it was enough simply to know Shiro and to truly call him a friend, which was a privilege afforded to very few.

Keith hears Shiro give a deep sigh, probably relaxing after the hubbub of wedding guests. He doesn’t look at him but he can feel Shiro settling into quiet contemplation, like they used to do when they watched sunsets together. Tired and covered in sweat and dust after racing hoverbikes out into the craggy desert, they would park themselves on some red outcropping high above the hard flat earth and watch the sky catch fire and burn to deep blue, darkening into the limitless black of star-studded space.

Here, thirty feet away from the chattering laughing wedding guests, Shiro speaks after he’s taken his decompression time. “Thanks for coming, Keith…” Out of the corner of his eye Keith can see him tear his gaze from the horizon.

“Of course.” Keith says more easily than he feels. He can't miss the implication that he had not wanted to come to his best friend's wedding, but he can’t fault Shiro for it because it’s true.

“It means a lot to have everyone here.” Shiro hesitates before speaking again. Keith knows him well enough that he can practically hear the words stick in Shiro’s throat even though they come out smoothly “Especially you.”

“Yeah…” Keith feels himself give a smile that’s just a little too dry “I wanted to be here for you.” Which is true.

The sun is dipping further below the horizon, turning the bright reds and oranges of the desert to blues and purples. Keith wants to look at Shiro and see the shadows across his face, the way the light sculpts his jaw. But he doesn’t. He won’t. He doesn't want to see Shiro trying to look him in the eye, trying to apologize without apologizing. He almost wants him to leave.

Instead of leaving, Shiro speaks again “Keith…” he starts like he wants to say something but he’s not sure what it is. Keith can hear concern in his voice and...pain? He’s stepped out into thin air hoping something will come to him but there’s only empty space...silence. Takashi Shirogane at a loss for words.

Keith rescues him quietly, still staring across the sand “It’s okay. You don’t owe me anything, Shiro.” _because I love you,_ he adds silently. _I will always love you._

Shiro gives a barely detectable shuddering breath, almost as if he could hear Keith’s unspoken words. There’s a rustle as he shifts his weight. He makes a sound, almost a throat-clearing noise. When he speaks again his voice is rough “I’ll...I'll see you around, buddy.” he gives Keith’s shoulder a light touch and then he’s gone, and Keith is alone looking across the desert.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is the first thing I've ever posted and I just wanted to get it out so please be gentle. I hope somebody enjoys it.


End file.
